1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reusable gaming device, more particularly to a promotional gaming device which can be used in conjunction with various promotional media.
2. Description of Related Art
Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
Gaming is an entertainment activity with an increasingly widespread availability involving numerous applications. Presently, gaming is a diverse industry implementing a large variety of systems that enable players to participate in various forms of traditional games of chance such as instant ticket-type games, traditional lottery drawing games, and match games as well as more sophisticated electronic and video games.
One system of gaming is that of the instant ticket game. In the case of typical paper instant tickets, a computer generates a randomized prize data stream comprised of a finite series of win/lose outcomes. Each outcome is assigned to a lottery ticket, and each ticket contains one or more game chances which yield the assigned outcome. The player cannot change the ticket outcome; he or she merely scratches off an opaque covering on the ticket in accordance with the rules of the game to reveal win/lose results or prize status.
Remote gaming systems, and more particularly, off-line systems for playing games of chance including instant-type lottery games typically embody playing tickets on a game computer. These systems offer the same convenience as typical paper scratch-off tickets without the gaming computer ever having to be physically or electronically connected to a lottery system network during play.
In both types of instant win games, the primary benefit to the maker of the game is an incoming revenue stream. The advantage to players of instant-win tickets is the ability to obtain immediate gratification. Unlike holders of tickets for scheduled prize drawings, for example, who must await completion of the drawings to determine whether they have won any prize, purchasers of instant-win tickets are able to discern the extent of their successful play immediately after acquiring the tickets. However, empirical evidence suggests that some purchasers prefer greater involvement with the games presented on the tickets than many instant-win tickets typically provide. As a consequence, more recently created games have been extended to provide additional play tickets. These types of games are either multiple in number or are not limited to removing a single opaque covering.
Match games of chance such as Bingo and Keno are also becoming more popular world wide, particularly in the United States. Bingo parlors are proliferating, both as charity fund raisers and as legal for-profit ventures. Also, currently at least 30 state and provincial lotteries have adopted a bingo card format for their instant prize winner lottery cards. These cards are typically xe2x80x9cScratcher Bingoxe2x80x9d games in which a caller""s card and as many as four separate bingo squares are displayed. The player scratches off the play spaces which match numbers on the caller""s card, attempting a traditional bingo match of vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines or four corners. The game cards can take a full 10 to 15 minutes to complete and are popular due to the hands-on participation required. Typically a player has a chance to win multiple prizes from a single card via the multiple bingo squares. Keno, although less well known, is proliferating as well with the expansion of legal gambling facilities.
Until recently, game creators were unaware of any effort (other than their own) to link games of chance with the personal computers of those who purchase the instant-type lottery tickets or play match games such as Bingo or Keno. However, a 1996 brochure of Gizmo Enterprises, Inc. entitled xe2x80x9cInteractive Multimedia Lottery Ticketxe2x80x9d touts a product called xe2x80x9cWinWare.xe2x80x9d According to the brochure, xe2x80x9cWinWarexe2x80x9d is xe2x80x9can improved lottery ticket that increases the excitement of lottery play.xe2x80x9d Players purchase tickets from existing retailers, then use their home computer or a retail gaming system to play interactive lottery games. There is no skill involved because the outcome of the game is controlled by the ticket. When players win they simply bring their tickets back to the retailer and collect the prize.
It is apparent that with the recent widespread popularity of personal computers, the availability of on-line services, the increasing popularity of instant-type lottery and match games such as Bingo and Keno, and the increasing popularity of gaming in general, a faster and more convenient method of gaming entertainment could be developed using the Internet. Once proclaimed to be the xe2x80x9cinformation superhighway,xe2x80x9d the Internet has now become the xe2x80x9cadvertisement superhighway,xe2x80x9d and, as such, is able to provide gaming opportunities directly to a person in the privacy of his own home through cyberspace while at the same time exposing the person to a manufacturer""s line of product.
In addition to Internet gaming, regardless of whether it is provided to the consumer strictly for his own entertainment or to induce him to purchase consumer products, a more desirable and convenient method of promoting the sale of consumer products could be developed. Such a promotion method could limit, or even eliminate, the requirement for paper manufacturer""s coupons and could allow manufacturers an opportunity to promote specific products without altering product containers or attaching special coupons to the products or store shelves. The method could also allow consumers to personally select product categories and products within the selected categories for refund or discount information in advance of their shopping trip, and, to be effective, the method could generate consumer interest and excitement by the use of a game format for the selected product categories. Finally, the method would save valuable natural resources by specifically targeting rebate and coupon offers only to those consumers who actively solicit such offers.
Because of the increased interest in instant-ticket type games, traditional lottery-drawing games, and match games such as Bingo and Keno, there is a need to provide people with an easily accessible forum to afford them the opportunity to participate in recreational gaming. Furthermore, because there is an ever-increasing need to conserve valuable natural resources, the linking of recreational gaming with the potential to reduce environmental waste may serve that end.
The invention contemplates a reusable promotional gaming device for determining whether a player has matched a predetermined winning sequence of characters or symbols. The invention consists of a substrate having at least two rows of location designating symbols so that a position may be designated by a combination of at least one of the symbols from each row. The invention also contemplates groups of sequence representing elements disposed on the substrate. These sequence representing elements have a corresponding position designated by the positional combination of at least one of the symbols from each row of location designating symbols. The invention furthermore contemplates a promotional product label having marks disposed on the label. Each of the marks are addressable by one of the sequence representing elements when the substrate is placed over the promotional product label. Each mark furthermore identifies a sequence representing element that in combination forms a gaming sequence which can be compared to the predetermined winning sequence.
The substrate of the gaming device may be either transparent or translucent. The location designating symbols are arranged in a row and in a column, and the sequence representing elements may be comprised of either integers or letters. These sequence representing elements may be predisposed on the substrate in either varying patterns or in a random fashion.
The invention also contemplates a method of playing a game using a gaming device. The first step in playing the game is the placing of a gaming card over marks disposed on a promotional product label. The gaming card is a substrate having at least two rows and at least two columns of designating symbols disposed in relation to each other so that a position may be designated by a positional combination of at least one symbol from each row and each column. The substrate has disposed onto it groups of sequence representing elements having corresponding positions designated by a positional combination of at least one of the designating symbols from each row and column. Each of the marks disposed on the promotional product label is addressable by one of the sequence representing elements disposed on the substrate when the gaming card is placed over the promotional product label.
Subsequent steps in playing the game involve locating each address where the marks on the promotional product label are visible below each of the sequence representing elements, identifying a corresponding sequence element which forms a portion of a gaming sequence, and comparing the gaming sequence representing elements to a predetermined winning sequence.
In the method of playing the game the substrate may be either transparent or translucent, and the location designating symbols are arranged in a row and in a column. The sequence representing elements may be comprised of integers or letters, and they may be disposed onto the substrate in either varying patterns or in a random manner.
The invention further contemplates a promotional gaming device for determining whether a player has matched a predetermined winning sequence. This device contains a first graphical element having at least one row and at least one column of location designating symbols. These location designating symbols are disposed in relation to each other so that a position may be designated by a positional combination of at least one symbol from one row and at least one symbol from one column.
The device also contains groups of sequence representing elements that are displayed on the first graphical element. These sequence representing elements have a corresponding position designated by the positional combination of at least one symbol from each row and at least one symbol from each column.
The device further contains a second graphical element having marks disposed on it. Each of the marks are addressable by one of the sequence representing elements when the first graphical element is place over the second graphical element, and each mark identifies a sequence representing element that in combination forms a gaming sequence which can be compared to the predetermined winning sequence.
The graphical elements may be displayed electronically on a computer screen. The computer screen may be connected to a remote database, and the remote database may be located on the Internet.
In this embodiment of the promotional gaming device, the user can position a computer-imaged cursor over the first graphical element and activate a dragging element enabling the user to position the first graphical element over the second graphical element. The marks can be perceived through the first graphical element and can be correlated with sequence representing elements, which are compared to a predetermined winning sequence. The graphical elements of the gaming device may have a unique identifying code associated with them enabling them to be validated by the game administrator.
Another method of playing the game using a gaming device as above can be carried out by placing a gaming card over marks preprinted onto an item, locating each address where the marks are visible below each of the sequence representing elements when the gaming card is placed over the promotional product label, collecting points based on the result of a mathematical computation derived from the integral values corresponding to the marks at each of the addresses, and redeeming the points collected from the mathematical computation for a prize.
The game can furthermore be played using a telephone by calling a telephone number designated by the game administrator and listening to pre-recorded messages or advertisements. The caller would then obtain information specifying a location at which a gaming device would be placed, place the gaming device at that place over a group of marks disposed on a promotional product label, and locate each address where the marks are visible below each of the sequence representing elements. The player then identifies a corresponding sequence element that forms a portion of a gaming sequence and compares the gaming sequence representing elements to a predetermined sequence. This gaming method may also have a unique identifying code associated with it for validation purposes, and it may be played across a telephonic paging system. Furthermore, the inventive system may be used in conjunction with an Interactive Voice Telephony system or an Interactive Voice Response/Recognition system.
Yet another embodiment of the invention contemplates a method for obtaining biographical and geographical information relating to a consumer. The first step of this method is the electronic interconnection of an electronic computer with a remote database which may be connected at an Internet site. The second step is the electronic displaying on the computer monitor of advertisements and a graphical element which can be dragged over and dropped onto a second graphical element which contains marks. The marks on this second graphical element are addressable by sequence representing elements when the first graphical element is dragged and dropped over the marks. The third step is the allowance of a player to collect a prize if the player""s first graphical element recites a winning sequence. The final step involves the player""s collection of his prize in exchange for the player giving biographical and geographical information relating to himself which can be used in demographic studies by the promoter of the game.
Still another aspect of the invention contemplates a method of verifying information collected by comparing a first piece of data collected to a subsequent piece of data collected. The first piece of data is then compared to the second piece of data, and, if the two pieces of data are in response to the same question and if they differ, the data is flagged and verified by the game administrator.